Anderson shocked to be back in silver and black

BOSTON — On Monday night, James Anderson was at his temporary home in McAllen, where he was living while playing for the Development League’s Rio Grande Vipers, watching his old team on television.

He tuned in just in time to see the Spurs’ Stephen Jackson break his pinky finger in the first quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers, but had no idea how that moment would change his plans for the week.

About an hour later, Anderson’s phone rang. His agent was calling to say the Spurs had a job for him.

“I was surprised,” Anderson said. “Shocked, actually.”

Down two small forwards with Kawhi Leonard also out, the Spurs re-signed Anderson before the start of the six-game road trip that begins tonight in Boston, plucking him from the D-League and offering one more chance — however brief — to prove he belongs in the NBA.

The Spurs’ No. 1 draft choice in 2010, the 6-foot-6 Anderson spent two mostly disappointing seasons with the team. After being waived by Atlanta in training camp last month, Anderson wound up in the D-League, utterly convinced he didn’t belong there.

“There’s no doubt in my mind I can play in this league (the NBA),” Anderson, 23, said after Spurs shootaround this morning at TD Garden. “Being down in the D-League, playing with those guys is two different levels. This is the one I want to be at, and the one I definitely deserve to be at.”

A former Big 12 Player of the Year at Oklahoma State, Anderson averaged 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 77 career games with the Spurs, his first two NBA seasons hijacked by injuries and missed opportunity. He is likely to be used sparingly in his second go-round with the Spurs, though Anderson does come with the added bonus of being familiar with coach Gregg Popovich’s system.

“If you can find somebody out there who knows what they’re doing, it helps,” Popovich said. “We’re glad to have him.”

With his old No. 25 having gone to rookie Nando De Colo, Anderson will wear No. 11 in his second tour of duty with the Spurs.

With an eye toward salvaging an NBA career, Anderson looks to guard Danny Green as inspiration. Before sticking with the Spurs last season, Green had been waived three times by two NBA teams and spent some time bouncing around the basketball bush leagues.

“You can look at his story,” Anderson said. “He did it the hard way, getting cut by different teams and going overseas. He got to be in different situations. You see where he is now, it’s all paid off for him. Everybody has different roads.”

Though the odds might still be stacking against him, Anderson hopes his road once again leads to a full-time job in the NBA.